Heavy duty liquid detergent products have grown in popularity over recent years. The sale of such products in specialized dispensing packages, usually including a combined measuring cup/closure, and a drainback fitment/spout has aided the consumers in the use of such products.
While drainback containers have enhanced the convenience of the use of heavy duty liquid detergents and other products, still some problems exist. Many of the containers include fitments which extend well below the top of the container finish into the bottle. The problem which this presents is that it is sometimes difficult to pour out from the container the last remnants of product since product becomes entrapped between the fitment and the container finish when the bottle is in the inverted, pouring position. This is particularly a problem for “see-through” containers, which can be expected to maximize consumer frustration with the inability to utilize the entire product present within the container.
Barker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,862 discloses a dispenser package which includes a transition collar having an extended pour spout and a transverse partition with a drain to collect and return residual liquid to the container. A measuring cup has an open mouth with threads on its exterior to attach to the cup on the interior of the transition collar. The measuring cup acts as a closure for the package. The bottle finish has external threads that mate with internal threads on the transition collar.
Muckenfuhs et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,416 is directed to a package similar to that of Barker et al. except that a drip concentrating member is present in the lowermost surface of the drainback partition.
Davidson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,009 discloses a package having a spout-containing fitment wherein external threads on the package finish cooperate with internal threads on a closure/measuring cup. The Davidson et al. bottle includes a locking circumferential ridge on an inner peripheral surface of the upper end portion of the bottle finish (see FIGS. 9 and 10), which retains the fitment.
The Davidson et-al. design is embodied in heavy-duty liquid detergent containers sold by Lever Brothers Company for products such as Surf and Wisk® detergents, sold for over one year in the U.S. The fitment of these commercially available containers includes, in addition to a drainback opening, an opening in the sidewall of the fitment to permit liquid entrapped between the wall of the fitment and the container finish to exit the container. While this arrangement has improved the ability to dispense more of the product, there is still a need to minimize further the loss of product to the consumer when liquid is trapped between the wall of the fitment and the finish of the container.
CA 2225949 discloses a bottle having a fitment with a spout. It is said that more than one product exit aperture may be present and that the product exit aperture also serves as a vent hole. The product exit aperture is said to be located high enough in the fitment wall such that at least a portion of liquid trapped when the bottle is turned upside down can escape. It may be positioned halfway down the wall of the fitment, or one quarter of the way down or three quarters of the way down or elsewhere.
Kittscher, U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,560 discloses a measuring cup closure for a container. The closure has a spout part which is placeable in the container opening, a pouring spout and an outer ring formed integrally around the base of the spout part. The closure also includes a measuring cup. In order to ensure that product draining from the measuring cup after it has been used is able to flow back into the interior of the container, an outlet preferably in the form of a slot 17 extends substantially parallel to the axis 1 of the container opening 2 is provided in the outer ring 8 at the base 15 of the outer ring or at the lowest point of the region 16 between the pouring spout 7 and its outer ring 8. A thread gap 22 at the outer end of outer screw thread 4 forms a stop for alignment of the spout part.
The Kittscher patent also states, more generally, that when the spout part projects into the container as is preferably the case, a slot extending substantially parallel to the axis of the container opening is provided in the outer ring of the spout part opposite the pouring side of the spout. The remaining product can be poured out through this slot when the container is held upside down.
Ekkert et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,467 is directed to a container having an externally threaded finish which mates with an internally threaded finish of a closure. A fitment having a radially extending flange is inserted within the mouth of the container and the radially extending flange rests upon the top of the finish. The arrangement is such that the amount of residual contents left within the container is said to be diminished. The illustrated spout fitment appears to have substantial areas open for product to flow through, relative to the area defined by the outer spout wall.
Other bottle patents include Li, U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,829, Burt, U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,935, Iida, U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,145 and Odet, U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,234.
The following discloses bottles and/or spouts: Bavegems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,566, Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,788, Haga et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,770, Haffner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,202, Fuchs et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,269, Moore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,772, and Reiber et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,421.